yinxiong

[yinxiong]

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

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No, I’m no one’s wife—but oh, I love my life!

Chicago (2002) dir. Rob Marshall

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chinese hanfu by 桃花序

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chinese fashion by 辰子爱婚纱礼服

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hollyhock

(crop of june’s patreon illust)

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Cut the Clutter. Sound Legit.

Trimming your writing has the benefit of getting your point across to readers without using stuffy sentences and filler phrases. Those are the training wheels of beginning writers, but seasoned professionals can pick them out easily. 

One such weakness to cut from your writing so it sounds more professional is the word “give.” Here are some examples taken from my own writing.

Example 1:

Original - She gives me an appraising look as I enter the room.

Revision - She appraises me as I enter the room. 

Example 2:

Original - She gives a long tired sigh, but smiles at the end of it.

Revision - Her tired sigh ends with a smile.

The meaning stays the same, but less time is needed to read and understand the sentence when that awkward “give” is taken out. Unfortunately for me, both of these examples came from the same scene, making a scene that should last only a few seconds take longer than that to read through.

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Chengdu, Sichuan by evgeniya_datukishvili

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I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but I've watched some c-dramas and was wondering, when a character is referred to as a "fairy", is that another term for "immortals"? And is it female exclusive? Like I Googled a bit and got the word "xian" (仙/仚/僊), is that the right word/s?

Yes.

C-dramas (especially on iQiyi I think) usually translate 仙女/xiannv as 'fairy' but it has ZERO to with fairies in popular western media or fae of various European folklore, so it just makes things confusing to new audiences. They should really just romanise the Chinese concepts instead...

仙女/xiannü is female exclusive (the 女 part means 'woman'), however 仙/xian just means 'immortal' and can also refer to men. I don't think 仙 alone is usually translated to 'fairy' though.

Immortals in Chinese mythology/folk religion/Daoism/Chinese Buddhism are just beings related to the celestial realms or heavens, such as deities. However certain spirits/monsters/demons are also considered immortals, so that's where you might get hulijing/fox demons (狐狸精) getting referred to as 'fox fairies' in English translations.

仙女/xiannv can also just refer to a very beautiful, pure, dignified (etc) mortal woman. On the internet nowadays, "小仙女"/"Little xiannv" is a derogatory nickname to give to certain women who are perceived as entitled, snooty, demanding of special treatment, etc. Sort of how 'princess' can be used sarcastically.

Fairies in the popular western sense, i.e, sprites and elf like creatures, are generally translated as 精灵/jingling, which also refers to spirits/goblin spirits in Chinese mythology.

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Sometimes, a fic doesn't have to get published, it can just be a series of messages on a Discord channel, between a dedicated group of friends going "oooh, you know what else would be cool?" continuously over a period of weeks and months :)

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lydia davis

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from Tiny Beautiful Things, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. 

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apparently no one was paying attention in middle school language arts when we learned what a fucking protagonist was

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first person fic: I-

me: I did nothing. you are not me. fuck you.

second person fic: 

YOU

me: oh shit maybe i did do that

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some doodles!

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Finished the event yesterday and jumped on the eulamber bandwagon

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context: they were invited by albedo for dinner but got distracted

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